Guevarra asks NBI to probe Sagay massacre ‘more deeply’

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday said he had asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate further the killing of the nine farmers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.

Guevarra issued the statement after the slay of lawyer Ben Ramos, the secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) Negros Occidental Chapter, who was one of the lawyers who provided legal assistance to the families of the massacre victims.

“NBI has submitted a progress report [on the death of the farmers in Sagay]. I directed them to investigate more deeply,” Guevarra told reporters in a text message.

He explained that the NBI’s initial report was simply based on witnesses’ accounts and revealed “no clear indication as to who perpetrated the crime, thus the directive to investigate further.”

READ: Minority senators seek probe of killing of 9 Sagay farmers

The Secretary earlier said that he will direct the NBI to include the lawyer’s murder in the investigation and look if there are indications that the incident is related to the Sagay massacre last month.

Ramos was killed on Tuesday night in Kabanlakan by motorcycle-riding suspects. 

READ: Lawyer for 9 slain farmers shot dead

The massacre of the nine farmers, including four women and two minors, occurred in a farm at Hacienda Nene, Purok Firetree, Barangay Bulanon in Sagay City.

Witnesses claimed that the slain farmers were just resting inside a makeshift tent when 40 unidentified armed men open fired at them. /je